Tales Of The New Gods!

For any diehard Fourth World fan Tales of the New Gods is an essential. After Kirby legions of talents wanted to take a stab at the wonders of the New Gods saga. First and foremost among those was John Byrne who had followed in Kirby's wake on the Fantastic Four, giving that series the best work it had seen since the King's departure. So he was a likely choice to add to the canon at DC. But he was far from alone with the likes of Walt Simonson, Steve Rude, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Art Adams, Matt Wagner and even the great Steve Ditko willing and eager to take a swing. 

The first story in this collection unlike the others. It's a choice Mister Miracle adventure from the late 80's by writer Mark Evanier and artist Steve Rude. This is a humdinger with Scott Free, Barda and Oberon all on stage for a story which evokes the best of the classic Kirby series while at the same time giving the characters a modern luster. Steve Rude is to my eye the best of the artists who were inspired by Kirby because he's not slavish in his devotion, but rather takes the essence of what made Kirby's work hum and incorporate that action-filled drama into a sleek new package. 

The balance of the collection is make up of various short tales, some mutliple chaptered affairs which offer up details about the long lives of the Fourth World cast. These are stories which are post-Crisis and so reflect the new understanding of the DCU at that time. 

We are first treated to a trio of stories which detail Darkseid's origin, one which is filled with decepiton and betrayal just as you'd expect of the finest villain Jack Kirby ever created. We meet Uxas, the man who would be Darkseid and his brother Drax. It is Drax who was intended to become the heir to the throne of Apokolips, but first he'd have to survive the acquistion of the Omega power. Drax is seemingly destroyed, and Uxas becomes Darkseid. This is Byrne at his best. 

Next is a trio of tales which showcase how Scott Free came to be on Earth. We know the story of how he escaped from Apokolips, thus breaking the Pact which forged a fragile peace between that world an New Genesis, but now we learn more. It seems Scott came to Earth in London in the year 1802 where he met a lovely lady named Fancy. The story jumps forward to Dover in 1856 where we see that Fancy has aged as must all humans but Scott is still as we know him. The final chapter shifts to the United States territories, specifically Dodge City and we get a taste of Scott Free the gunslinger. Metron is along for some of this ride. Byrne really changed the way I understood Scott Free with these three little yarns. 

The next trilogy focuses on Kanto the assassin of Darkseid's court. We learn how a young man named Iluthian is transported to the court of the Borgias and learns the craft of deception and poisonous murder before assuming his official role. This story was written and drawn by Walk Simonson. 

Matt Wagner is on the art for Byrne's script which shows how Metron got hold of the X-Element, the material which makes his Moebius Chair possible. It also is the source for what became the Boom Tubes and we see Metron callously trade this tech to Darkseid. Metron's cold search for knowledge cares little for the lives lost by his bargain. 

Next up is more story and art by Byrne and we see how the Forever People come together (different than the story in limited series) and how they were trained for years to become the vehicle by which the Infinity Man was transported to his reality. The identity of the Infinity Man is revealed and his connection to Darkseid is quite personal. Byrne then indulges in a post-Crisis retelling of the story from Forever People #1 which saw Superman encounter these kids from "Supertown" for the first time. In Kirby's tale Superman is feeling isolated from mankind, but in this story in which he doesn't het knwhis origins, he suspects he might just be a deinizen of New Genesis. 

We then are treated to a run of one-off short tales which appeared (mostly) in the pages of Orion, the comic Walt Simonson which followed on after Byrne's run. Getting a focus are such characters as Tigra, Mortalla, Mark Moonrider, Big Bear, Scott Free, among others. There is even a story by Steve Ditko featuring Granny Goodness which had not been printed before its inclusion in this collection. 

All in all, this is a light fun read for a Fourth World fan. I would've loved to have had more context for these stories as we are not even told what issues they originally appeared in. I was forced to resort to the reliable GCD for data. But despite that, I recommend this one if you can find it. 

Rip Off